As an adolescent at Melbourne Grammar, Race Mathews discovered The New Statesman in the school library and, through that, Hewlett Johnson’s The Socialist Sixth of the World. Together, they opened his eyes to the possibility of people cooperatively living and working together and relating to one another. That led to an interest in Marx and the Soviet Union, but the interest in communism ended with Khrushchev’s denunciation of Stalin in 1956. However, Race was left with a firm belief in the principles of democratic socialism.

He began his working life as a primary school teacher in Gippsland. There he met David Bennett, who was to become a lifelong friend. The grandson of John Monash, Bennett was a committed democratic socialist and convinced the young Mathews to end his Marxist flirtation to join him in the Moe branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP).

Race became fascinated by policy and how good policy could bring about real change in people’s lives. However, he was frustrated by the union-dominated ALP which seemed to him to be more interested in hanging on to factional power than developing good policies and winning elections. Race began agitating for change, joining the Fabian Society and developing policy papers on education and health.

He later joined the staff of the then-opposition leader, Gough Whitlam, who was trying to modernise the Victorian ALP. Race went on to serve as a backbencher in the Whitlam government and when he lost his seat in 1975, he moved to state politics and became Minster for Police and Arts in the Cain government, where he was widely acknowledged as a very effective minister in both portfolios.

Race continued his interest in modernising the ALP and in policy development, along with his commitment to social justice. His intellectual and political life, as superbly demonstrated in this biography, serves as an example to many of today’s politicians, who see self-interest and self-preservation as their guiding principles.